This study has two major objectives: 1) to provide a description of the incidence, distribution and pattern of delinquent behavior across time and to specify the relationship between these elements of delinquent behavior and officially recorded responses to delinquent behavior and 2) to identify those variables which account for the observed changes in levels and patterns of involvement in delinquent behavior across time. The theoretical conceptualization is based upon an integration of strain and control theory. Two primary paths or sets of conditions which lead youth into involvement in delinquent behavior have been postulated: The first and probably the most frequent sequence involves 1) weak bonds to conventional society and 2) exposure and commitment to groups involved in delinquent activity while the second involves 1) strong bonds to conventional society, 2) conditions and experiences which serve to attenuate these bonds, and 3) exposure and commitment to groups involved in delinquent activity. Basic variables to be measured include integration (occupancy of conventional social roles, relative absence of sanction networks, etc.), commitment (normlessness, attachment to family, self-esteem, etc.), exposure to deviance, delinquency and mediators (negative labeling-counterlabeling, success-failure, organized social contexts-disorganized social contexts). The study design involves a cohort analysis on a national probability of youth, age 11-17. Basic analyses will include cluster and typological analyses, discriminant and regression analyses as well as pattern of change analysis utilizing analysis of variance techniques.